IndieCade (a convention that strictly shows of upcoming Indie games) just ended and after looking at a list of games that were showcased at the event, I found two that immediately caught my eye. [Please expect more IndieCade cards to show up as I get through the list and all the videos and articles and whatevers].

If you don't know this about me yet, I'm interested in media that pushes the medium in a way it hasn't been before and extremely cute things. The following games achieve both of these things respectively.

Emily is Away

Emily is Away is a story-driven game where you're tasked with picking dialogue options in an AIM chat window. For those of us that aged and grew and lived throughout the early 2000s during our formative years, we already understand all of this.

And strangely, this game gives me a feeling of nostalgia for a moment in time that I didn't even know I was nostalgic for. I remember being a weird teenager trying to make friends on AIM because a lot of the people in my team weren't worth making friends with. I don't know how else to describe this game since I haven't played it yet (it's available here, if you're interested) so I'll just let the developer, Kyle Seeley, describe it:

"Emily is Away is an art game driven by nostalgia and awkward teenage memories. The aesthetic is a romanticized version of early 2000's computing. It features a branching narrative based on my own personal experiences. The result is somewhere between a chat bot and an adventure game. It's my hope that the nostalgic interface transports the player back into their own memories, allowing the narrative to connect with them on a more personal level."

Butt Sniffin' Pugs

I don't know how else to describe this game other than the cutest thing I have ever seen that I childishly funny. And I mean "childishly" in the best possible way. I don't know when I'll ever get the chance to play this game the way it was intended to be played. And what I'm referring to is the giant tennis ball controller with a stuffed pug butt button (seriously, watch the video I left for you above).

It looks like one of those games that'll give you (and a friend) that old-school couch co-op experience that is slowly being phased out of video game culture. This game isn't out yet and I know they're planning on starting a Kickstarter in order to fund the making of the full game but that hasn't begun yet. You can find more information on Butt Sniffin' Pugs, here.

I hope you enjoyed my picks and there'll be more like this in the future (if I ever find time to look at all these things, that is...)